High Healthcare Costs Impact Employee Financial Wellness, Organisations Must Strengthen Employee Support: Report

With the rapid artificial intelligence (AI) disruption and economic volatility, the most significant threat to modern-day organisations may not be technological, but human. According to the People Risk 2026 report, Indian businesses are confronting growing health, safety, and psychological risks among employees, posing a significant threat to organisational stability.

The report conducted a survey of over 4000 human resource (HR) and Risk professionals globally, including over 300 respondents in India. Here are the India-specific findings revealed in the report.

Essential Medical Care

The report’s Risk Rating Score identified mental health deterioration and infectious diseases as top-tier threats to business continuity. The data reveals that employees are increasingly delaying essential medical care due to prohibitive costs and long wait times. But this delay often leads to late diagnoses for serious conditions, such as cancer.

Financial barriers remain a cause of concern. Around 41 per cent of the respondents expressed concerns that rising health costs are eroding their disposable income and retirement savings. The high out-of-pocket expenses for prescriptions and deductibles have created a workforce that is working longer, often with higher health risks, while younger employees are facing mental well-being challenges.

Workplace Safety Risk

The report finds that unsafe physical or psychological working conditions are also a critical risk factor. However, the primary concern is not just physical hazards, but a lack of preparation. Around 43 per cent of the respondents feel concerned about increased safety risk incidents that stem from a lack of knowledge, skill, or training.  

Further, the normalisation of risk behaviours and understaffing are leading to increased errors and accidents. According to the report, workers are facing “sustained cognitive strain” driven by constant information flow and workplace pressure. This strain narrows focus, degrades mental judgment, and increases fatigue, which ultimately harms performance and adaptability.

What Employers Can Do

The report suggests that these risks can be mitigated through proactive leadership. According to the report, the forward-looking employees are focusing on ‘human-centred models’ of work and moving away from rigid legacy frameworks. It suggests a collaboration between HR and the risk department, and redesigning the work by combining data and people insights.

It suggests that organisations should enhance prevention, make early intervention, and provide psychological safety so as to reduce employees’ absence, burnout, and long-term health risks.

According to the report, organisations that prioritise psychological safety and early health intervention have realised a 53 per cent increase in workforce productivity and a 51 per cent growth in initiatives like AI adoption. The report underscores that organisational resilience in the coming years will depend less on static control and more on human capability, and thus, those organisations will be best positioned in the future that view their workforce not as a liability or a potential source of risk but their biggest strategic asset.